


Shadow of a Doubt

by Eustacia Vye (eustaciavye)



Category: Harry Potter - Rowling
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-02-09
Updated: 2010-03-10
Packaged: 2017-10-07 03:19:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 21,891
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/60880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eustaciavye/pseuds/Eustacia%20Vye
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Katie Bell lost many things in the Battle of Hogwarts, and wasn't sure she would ever get reparations for it. The Ministry is trying to set things right, and it certainly isn't her idea to take on Marcus Flint.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Between Blame And Ricochet

Falsehood is never so successful as when she baits her hook  
with truth, and no opinions so fastly misled us as those  
that are not wholly wrong, as no timepieces so effectually  
deceive the wearer as those that are sometimes right.  
– Colton (1780-1832)

  
Katie Bell supposed she should have been grateful that her friends were with her for the meeting with the Ministry of Magic's War Reparations Department. She didn't want to be there and most certainly didn't want to have to see the self-serving politicians pat themselves on the back for doling out someone else's money as a stipend to veterans and beneficiaries every month. But an official summons couldn't be ignored, no matter how much she would like to, and she knew exactly why she would be sitting there.

Graham Weaver had been killed a year ago by Marcus Flint, and today his trial was coming to an end. Today they would pass sentence.

Alicia Spinnet had joined the Aurors after graduating Hogwarts along with Angelina Johnson, who had been plucked for the Unspeakables program. Katie had just fallen in with the rest of the old DA crowd from Hogwarts, doing whatever she could help over her mother's objections. They were both aware of a good more information than Katie was regarding the trial, but she hadn't wanted to know their suspicions or doubts. She hadn't wanted to be involved. She had enough to do at home, and she wanted to put the horrible day behind her for good. Too many good people had died that day. Hell, too many people died period. She didn't want to have to remember the glassy-eyed stare on Graham's face when she found his crumpled body. He had been tossed aside like so much waste, and everything he had ever hoped for had died that day.

"I see the widow is here," the Ministry lawyer said, looking at Katie.

"We're going to stay here," Alicia said, voice even. None of the girls actually liked the Ministry representative, but there was no choice in the matter. Angelina didn't even wait for his say so, but sat Katie down in the appropriate part of the court and wedged herself between Katie and the unctuous man. Alicia sat down on Katie's other side.

Katie looked very different from Hogwarts. Angelina was the same, the same cocoa skin and long, dark hair pulled away from her face. She was tall and lithe, muscular from all the working out she had to do in her training. None of it showed under the silver Unspeakable robes she wore, but Katie knew they were there. Alicia had her blonde hair pulled back into a single plait, and the red Auror robes hid her own strong frame. Katie supposed she mostly looked the same on the outside, with dark hair and a fringe falling into her eyes. She knew she had lost quite a bit of weight, but her belly was still a little rounded, even after all these months. She looked more like the tired, poor relation at someone's family reunion, done up in her best but still looking not quite put together enough to pass as middle class. It wasn't quite fair, and neither of her friends would have allowed such a comment in their hearing, but it didn't make it any less true for Katie.

She had the widow's compensation stipend, the orphan's stipend, the DA stipend and the extra funds from the government for young mothers needing to feed their children. It galled her to have to take it, but she had been left with no other choice. There hadn't been any other acceptable option, and by Merlin she made it work. She didn't ask for a single knut from her mother and paid for her flat on her own. Graham's mother was in St. Mungo's and had no expected recovery date. The death of her only son had shattered her mind completely, and Katie was sorry that she had nothing to offer the woman as comfort. Graham had been so sure that he would survive that he had Katie promise to give the child her last name, not his.

Katie went through the motions. None of this mattered. It was formality, it was something that didn't involve her. There had been rumbling that Marcus Flint had been a Death Eater even though he had no Mark on his arm. He should have been caught and tried for more than Graham Weaver's death, or simply put to death. Others felt a lifetime in Azkaban would be punishment enough. Still others thought that the new policy of rehabilitation was rubbish.

She didn't look at Marcus Flint in the courtroom, and he didn't glance in her direction. He was whisked away into a holding cell after the conclusion of the trial, but Alicia and Angelina had already told her what the outcome would be. She supposed their input had been asked for at some point; she knew Angelina had said there were discrepancies found during the trial that had been overlooked, and it bothered her to think that there might still be doubt of Marcus Flint's innocence of the crime.

The odious Ministry lawyer brought the three young women to another room where the final draft of documents was laid out in front of Katie. The rules were explained in painstaking detail, and all that was left was her signature.

Funny how little she cared that now she owned Marcus Flint, as if he was a piece of property.

"We'll help you," Angelina was telling her, but Katie tuned it out.

"He won't try anything, I promise you," Alicia told her, speaking to her inner fears. "It's implicit in the spells on the collar. I've tried to see if they can be broken myself, but they can't."

"Katie, say something," Angelina pleaded when Katie remained silent.

"I can do the charms myself," Katie told them, forcing a brighter tone to her voice. "I'll get everything set up. You don't have to worry about me. If anything goes wrong, I'll take care of it."

"Katie..." Alicia began, reaching out for her.

But Katie stepped back and looked at the Ministry's lawyer. "Let's get this over with."

Marcus Flint had been fitted with an iron obedience collar sealed shut with a magic lock. Around both wrists were iron skill manacles, which would allow him to perform any task Katie asked of him. His face was as blank as hers, and she felt no emotion when he stood and towered over her tiny frame. There would be an additional stipend to feed and house him, the lawyer explained, so that none of it was at her expense. A surveyor had worked from the structural plans so that a charmed room could be added to her flat in order to house him. He would have to do whatever she asked, and was only allowed whatever privileges she allowed him.

The thought made her sick, but there was no point in refusing the Ministry. They got their way sooner or later, and she couldn't afford to fight them.

"We're taking a detour," Katie told him evenly. "Then we're off to my flat," she said, grasping his wrist. Her hands were cold from being clenched in her lap all morning and afternoon, but he didn't make any response to her touch. She apparated them both to her childhood home. If he was surprised, he didn't show it. She appreciated that as she went up to the porch and left him just at the foot of the porch steps. Katie knocked on the door firmly, then waited.

Her mother came to the door. Loraine Bell came to the door, her mouth set in a pinched line as she contemplated her daughter. "It's about time you got here. The wireless had the sentence results hours ago."

It was an exaggeration, but Katie let it pass. That was the way Loraine was at this point. She had disapproved of everything Katie had ever loved after she went to Hogwarts, and every return home had been a painful exercise since then. Loraine was a bitter widow, and something inside Katie shriveled at the thought that she might be like her mother. "There were a lot of things that the Ministry wanted to go over."

Loraine looked beyond Katie out to the foot of the porch. Marcus Flint was nearly a foot and a half taller than Katie and was dressed in the drab gray jumpsuit of a Ministry detainee. "That's the one that killed him?"

"Is Caro ready?" Katie asked instead of answering. Loraine pinched her mouth even tighter in unhappiness, but nodded. "Thank you for helping me today."

"It's not as if that lump in the hospital could do it. She slept most of the time anyway."

Loraine disappeared and returned with a chubby baby that was nearly a year old and wailing miserably as she reached for Katie. Loraine also carried a large bag that looked stuffed to the gills with baby paraphernalia. "This is a mistake. You should tell the Ministry where they can put their good ideas."

Katie slung the bag over her shoulder and carefully took her daughter from her mother. Caroline Bell clung to Katie, her sobs slowing as she clutched her mother tightly. "Thanks for watching Caro, Mum," Katie said in even tones. "I appreciate it."

She didn't look back as Loraine humphed her displeasure. Katie merely returned to the foot of the porch and Marcus Flint's impassive gaze. She grasped his wrist and apparated again, this time to the foyer of her flat. Katie let the bag fall from her shoulder as she stepped into the living area, and the change that came over her was dramatic. She spun the baby around in a wide circle, laughing at the baby's giggles and then depositing her in front of a mountain of plush toys. She no longer seemed bent or brittle, but smiling and laughing with her baby. She looked more like the teenager she truly was.

The flat was a rather small space, taking less than two minutes to cross it from one end to the other. It was in a rundown area of the town, but the building was in the middle of renovations to try to capture the postwar boom in young witches and wizards moving from their parents' homes and needing a place to live. Katie had gotten the flat before the changes were made, so her rent was cheap. She otherwise couldn't have afforded to live in the area she did.

The baby pushed past the pile of toys and pulled herself up to standing by grasping Katie's trouser leg. Katie looked up when Caroline noticed Marcus still standing there in the foyer, watching them with a steady gaze. Though the nearly eleven month Caroline tended to cry at the sight of strangers, she merely regarded him with large eyes.

"You might as well sit in here." She watched as Marcus merely nodded and sat in a faded old armchair off to the side. Caroline watched his every move, then slowly took hesitant steps toward him, a finger in her mouth. "Caro, don't bother him, okay? Mummy has some figuring out to do about that. Play with your bears."

The baby plopped down onto her bum, unable to make the turn. She pulled herself back up to standing then carefully made her way back toward the toys.

With a sigh, Katie pulled all of the documentation out of her trouser pocket and enlarged it to full size. The first few pages of the booklet were easy enough to follow, but she was too tired to go through the rest of it. She hadn't asked for this, but here it was anyway. She was going to be part of a pilot program whereby the "less dangerous" Death Eaters and war criminals would be rehabilitated to be part of society again. Everyone knew that they would still carry the taint of their past deeds. The Wizarding World wasn't very forgiving.

"I'm doing the rest of this after she goes to bed," Katie told Marcus, folding the documents and putting them onto a table near the front door. "I'll need to concentrate."

It was almost unnerving how he watched her silently, as if drinking in the sight of her.

Katie tucked the diaper bag into a cabinet in the foyer after taking out dirty items. She went to the kitchen and began her usual late afternoon routine. Caroline reached up when Katie returned to the living room, grabbing at her shirt and hair. Katie sighed and disentangled her hair from Caroline's grip as best as she could. After a moment's thought, Katie paused at the entrance to the kitchen. "Are you hungry? Do you need something to eat?"

Marcus stood from his seat and came to stand at the entrance to the kitchen. "No."

It was unnerving, and Katie went through her usual routine with Caroline. The baby had her snack and they sang along with whatever song was on the wireless. They played with her stuffed toys and her blocks, and then Katie began to start dinner for herself, adding more for Marcus when she caught the flash of gray out of the corner of her eyes. Caroline ate a few soft vegetables for her dinner, then Katie whisked her away for her nightly bath. She knew Marcus followed her about her flat, but he kept a respectful distance as she pretended he wasn't there. Katie quietly closed the door to Caroline's room as they came back from the bath, and Marcus stood outside the shut door. Caroline fussed as Katie recounted how she needed a new nappy, her pyjamas and needed to settle for the night. It grew quiet after that, as Katie sang a few lullabies in a low tone. Then she read a story for the baby and tucked her into bed. If she was startled at the sight of Marcus standing outside of the nursery, she didn't show it.

"You could ask me for help," he told her as she began to clear away the baby bathtub and the toys Caroline had played with. Katie looked up, startled that he was making conversation with her. "I'm here to do whatever you want," he said, something like loathing in his voice.

Katie put down the toys and faced Marcus, her eyes flashing. "I don't _need_ your bloody help. I can do this on my own. I've _been _ doing this on my own!"

"It's better than sitting here doing nothing," Marcus told her evenly. "I'm supposed to do what you ask. You can ask me to do this for you."

"I don't _need_ you to do it," Katie hissed indignantly. She had done this on her own for nearly eleven months. Oh, she had her friends to visit and help when they visited, but for the most part, she did everything on her own without complaint. "Why don't you just go into that room and sit there?"

"I need to do something," Marcus replied. "And there's nothing in the room anyway."

"What are you talking about?"

"Furniture, clothes, whatever you're willing to let me have..." There was a slight tremor in his voice at the last part, as if his pride wouldn't allow him to admit the situation, "The final pages of spells and charms weren't cast yet."

"So you do it," Katie snapped. "I'm busy. I don't need extra work taking care of you."

"I can't read them," he told her patiently. "They're keyed to you alone."

Katie let out a breath and tried to ease the tension in her shoulders. "Fine. You clean this up and I'll finish that room. Then I'm cleaning up the kitchen and going to sleep while I can."

"It's not even eight o'clock," Marcus said, brows knit in confusion.

Katie walked past him to grab the booklet from the Ministry's room addition. She went through the instructions quickly, not bothering to limit the spelled room any further. She wasn't interested in leaving him lying on a bare wooden floor with no blankets or clothes. If he was comfortable in there, he could stay in there and leave her to her usual routine. She had a system that seemed to work for her, and she liked the attention she could give Caroline. She was going to be a helpful kind of Mum, the kind that made her child feel good about herself, the kind that taught her child useful things to prepare for the village school and how to appreciate the wonders that life had to offer. She was going to do right by Caroline, and she didn't need a Death Eater without a Dark Mark to screw it all up.

He was standing in the hall by the time she had finished with all of the spells. The spelled room was added to her existing flat, which was a small two bedroom structure. The room added itself to the end of her room, thinning the consistency of the remaining walls. The various structure and strengthening spells kept the flat from being lopsided from all of the enlargement charms on one side of it. "Anything else you'd like me to do?" he asked, voice even but expression dark with frustration.

_Welcome to the club,_ she thought acidly at the sight of the frustration. But even that seemed to burn out after a moment. She was simply exhausted, too tired to blame him for something that happened a year ago. That was an entire lifetime ago, and it was as if it had happened to someone else. "You know what? You can clean the kitchen. I'm tired."

Katie thought perhaps she should show him where things went, even if her kitchen was small enough for it to be fairly obvious where she kept her cups or spoons or pots or pans. He merely studied the room and studied her with the same even gaze, and it made her spine crawl. She wouldn't tell him how upset she was, even if he likely knew it anyway. It wasn't as if she was trying to hide what she felt from him.

Katie left him alone in her kitchen and crawled into bed after stripping down to her camisole and her knickers. She fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. Her dreams were a tangled mess, as they usually were. There were ballerinas from one of the songs on the wireless that evening, her mother pulling their strings with a sour look on her face and a picture of Katie's dead father in her chest pocket. She was running in between their legs, clutching Caroline to her chest, panting as she was trying to run from Marcus' still figure, his eyes dark and unreadable, his expression carefully blank.

He was lying to her, lying to everyone, and she could feel the knowledge of that crawling along her spine. He wouldn't hurt her physically, but she couldn't trust anything else around him, could she? He could play his little mind games, do something to make her regret not fighting the Ministry. Only, he wasn't exactly fighting them either. He had given up without a word when the Aurors came for him, and hadn't protested his innocence as other Death Eaters did. He took the charges for murder with a stoicism that Katie had been too numb to appreciate at the time. Even today, he remained stoic in the face of the humiliating punishment the Ministry had handed him.

A shrill cry split the silence and Katie tumbled from sleep abruptly. The dream faded as she padded in bare feet to the next room to comfort Caroline. Her daughter was nearly a year old but still couldn't sleep through the night. She woke between one and three in the morning every night, and Katie was stiff and sleepy as she trudged into the next room. Still she did it, even as she wished she could have some kind of help instead of doing it alone. Katie picked up her upset daughter with a gentleness that never revealed how tired she felt. Katie changed her while half asleep, then settled into the rocking chair in the room. She pulled down the top of her camisole without thinking and settled Caroline against her chest. Caroline found her breast quickly and suckled greedily as Katie stroked her back.

In five weeks, Caroline would have her first birthday. Two weeks after that, Katie would turn nineteen years old. She had never imagined that she would be a widow, a single mother and on the dole all before her twentieth birthday. The knowledge would have been bitter to swallow if she wasn't so exhausted and aching all the time.

Graham's mother was insane and her own mother was a nasty, bitter woman that had never gotten over the death of Katie's father in the first war. She had been a toddler, and couldn't remember her father. She had been taught to idealize the Order member he had been, yet her mother had been upset when Katie had joined up the DA. Her father would have been proud of her. Her father would have understood why she had to do it, why she had to fight after she left Hogwarts. Her mother refused to understand, refused to believe that Katie could be worth anything to the fight. Loraine had been even more difficult when she learned that Katie was pregnant, suggesting to get rid of it. Their already strained relationship hadn't recovered after that, and Katie had vowed she would never return to her childhood home.

Caroline fell asleep on the second breast, as she usually did. Katie rocked her, not quite willing to put her back into her crib just yet. She had given up everything to keep Caroline with her, and knew she was putting her life on hold until Caroline was old enough to enter the village school at four years old. That was fine with her; she didn't have any specific plans anyway.

Katie fell asleep where she was, still cradling Caroline to her chest.

Marcus had been jolted awake by Caroline's cries. The walls were too thin not to hear it, and he immediately understood why Katie had been so insistent on getting sleep while she could. It was nearly two in the morning, and he felt groggy. Still, the collar at his throat forced him up and out of bed. Just in sleep pants, he paused at the doorway to Caroline's room. Katie was breastfeeding, her head drooping with fatigue. Even as he watched, Katie fell asleep with Caroline in her arms. He moved then, gently disentangling the infant from Katie's grasp. She made a protesting noise and dug her nails into Marcus' forearms. He grit his teeth but remained silent as he shook her off. He tucked Caroline into her crib, then looked over at Katie.

He hadn't seen her in years, not since Quidditch at Hogwarts, and had barely recognized her in the courtroom. With a tenderness he would deny later if asked, he readjusted the camisole over her full breasts and then carried her into her bedroom. Marcus tucked her back under her own covers and then went to his room to sleep.

He had known what he was doing at the Battle of Hogwarts, had known what it would mean when let himself be captured. He hadn't known what damage the battle had done to people on both sides of the fight.

Now he knew. There were painful losses on both sides, no matter what the press said.

***  
***


	2. Falling Into Routine

Katie shot upright in bed at the sound of her alarm clock, disoriented. She didn't remember padding back into her own bedroom to sleep, though she must have. She rubbed at her eyes wearily, then padded across the hall to the bathroom to take a shower. She collided with a solid wall of muscle, her eyes still half closed. She wasn't fully awake in the morning until after she had her shower and breakfast, so she tried to get up at least an hour before Caroline did. Caroline usually woke by seven in the morning, and then the day started. She had a schedule, one she'd worked out by trial and error in the first few months, and everything was working out all right. She even had it on a board in her tiny kitchen, though she knew the schedule by now.

Katie blinked at the sight of gray in front of her, and looked up at Marcus' stoic face. He seemed tired as well, but didn't say anything. She was used to being petite, but his height made her feel even smaller at the moment. She was also painfully aware that she was barely wearing anything. "What are you doing?" she asked, rubbing at her eyes.

"I woke up when you did," he told her, voice even. She had no idea what he might be thinking. "Is there something you want me to do?"

"Breakfast," Katie mumbled, pushing him aside. To her surprise, he moved easily. "I'm not even awake yet. Bother me later about this."

Katie stood under the hot water, feeling it unknot her shoulders and lower back a bit. She would have to get a bathrobe of some kind. Usually she just dashed across the hall with her towel wrapped around her hair, but if he woke up whenever she did, she was going to have to cover up. No sense in giving a free show. She groaned and leaned against the cold tile of the shower stall. She was going to have to change her routine a bit. It wasn't as though she could bring him to the park and have him stand there for the other Mums and babies to gawk at.

Katie saw no sign of him when she dashed across the hall, her towel wrapped around her tightly. She locked her bedroom door anyway, telling herself to get a grip. Nobody thought it through, that was all. She hadn't wanted to accept the Ministry's meddling, so she never thought what it would mean to have Marcus Flint living in her tiny flat with her.

When she left the room dressed in her old loose denims and shirt, she could smell an omelet and coffee. Stunned, Katie made her way to her kitchen. "You can cook?"

Marcus was setting the small table in the kitchen and looked up. He gave her a sardonic grin as he held up his wrists. "I can now."

Katie blinked in surprise and slid into a seat. She normally didn't bother with anything like this in the morning. Cereal or toast and a glass of juice was enough until she was more awake. Caroline thought it was a fun game to try to feed her bits of toast or cookie in the late morning, so Katie didn't have to eat much that early. She looked up after a moment, as Marcus was still standing there. "You're not eating?"

"You didn't give me permission to," Marcus told her, voice even. There was a slight twitch in his eye, though. Katie assumed it as from frustration.

"Bloody hell, Flint. Do I honestly have to give you permission for everything?"

"Yes," he replied tightly.

"That's ridiculous."

"Those are the terms on the collar," he said, looking at a spot just above her head, jaw tight.

"Sit down, eat up and don't make me go through this every bloody morning."

He sat down across from her with a stony face. "Aren't you a ray of sunshine in the morning?"

"I don't sleep well. I've a baby, if you hadn't noticed," Katie snapped.

"Shouldn't she sleep through the night by now?" he asked, curious.

"What do you know about babies?"

"Nothing," Marcus admitted. "The cuffs only have charms for practical skills."

Katie flicked a glance at the iron bands at his wrists. They looked plain enough, but they did mark him for what he was. "So what's in them?"

"I can't use a wand, so it doesn't teach me spells or charms," Marcus explained, not quite meeting her eyes. "I have to do things in the proper muggle way."

"There's a proper muggle way?" Katie asked, surprised.

"According to whoever put the charms on the cuffs," Marcus replied in a wry tone.

Katie snickered before she could stop herself. She hadn't realized he had a sense of humor, and it seemed silly. With the obedience collar around his neck, he wasn't permitted to harm her or anyone in her household by action or inaction. Why take his wand privileges away?

_So he can't summon someone else to do it for him,_ her mind supplied after a moment. _So he can't be clever about hurting you._

She gave him a wan smile after a moment. "Well, the charms made you a good cook." He shrugged negligently at her; it wasn't as if he had any skill in the area on his own. "So I have to tell you what to do at all times? Is that it?"

"I suppose if you set rules down, it wouldn't have to be at every moment. Didn't they explain how this works?" Marcus asked, brows furrowing in confusion. He had been stuck in the room at the Ministry for over an hour after the collar and cuffs had been secured. That surely had been more than enough time for her to learn the rules the Ministry had set.

"They didn't mention this detail. There's a lot they didn't think of."

Marcus nodded. "So what is it that you want me to do here?"

Katie thought about it. "I suppose you could do the cooking and washing up. And cleaning," she added after a moment. "That would give me more time with Caro."

Marcus had noted all of the pictures in the living room the day before. Most of them had been of the baby, though there were some of Katie with her friends and there was a framed photo of a very young Katie with someone he assumed was her father. It was painfully obvious that Katie's life revolved solely around her daughter. "I'll do that," he agreed with a nod. It wasn't as if he had any choice in the matter.

"I can do it myself if I have to," Katie warned, voice on edge. "I don't want you mucking up the schedule we have."

"You have a schedule?" Katie nodded and pointed at the board she had made when Caroline was three months old. All seven days were represented, with various activities between mealtimes. Mondays and Wednesdays had breakfast, blocks/colors, nap, snack, free play, lunch, park, nap, snack, free play, dinner. Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays had the library in the morning. Tuesday afternoons had language lessons. Thursday and Friday afternoons had names written in. Fridays also had "bills" written in alongside Caroline's afternoon nap. The weekends were mostly park, free play, language and reading. "The names? What's that for?" he asked.

"I watch other people's children for a little extra money. They'll be here in the afternoon, so no funny business," Katie said, voice a bit sharp.

"Oh." Marcus replied lamely. He'd never had to actually work before, so it was a new concept.

There was a cry from Caroline's room, and Katie abruptly stood. "Just don't muck up my schedule, got it?" Marcus nodded and she left the kitchen.

It wasn't difficult keeping out of the way. He was left behind while they were in the library or at the park, which he didn't mind. He looked at the pictures on her walls, at the photo albums and books on her shelves. He cleaned the flat, reorganized everything in the cabinets, did the laundry. He cooked the meals and washed up after. He was appreciative when Katie actually brought him library books to read in his downtime. That first Thursday she brought back Quidditch books and magazines that he read while sitting in his room. He could hear children laughing and playing through the thin walls, and the curious voices of their Mums asking if the "nasty Death Eater monster" was anywhere near their precious, vicious darlings. He could hear Katie's response clear as day: "If he was a danger, the Ministry wouldn't let him near me or my child, let alone try to earn his way back into society. The children were quite safe."

He wondered if she even believed he could earn his way back into society. He suspected that he was written off completely, and that even once his sentence was served he would have problems if he ever left Flint Manor.

Katie took Caroline into her room for breastfeeding or into the kitchen for solid feeding. The rest of the time they played in the living room or Caroline's room. The baby was never scared of Marcus, for all that he towered over everyone and everything in the flat. The furniture was worn and mismatched, likely all second or third hand. Still, it wasn't as if it was any hardship for Marcus' newfound cleaning skills. The flat had been more messy than dirty; before Katie fully allowed him to take over the menial chores, he saw that she tended to do the picking up either during the free play sessions or by charms during the free play. She missed spots, but it kept the flat fairly orderly.

They didn't talk much, and Marcus supposed that was fine with him. During the trial, his cousin Adrian Pucey had come to visit him at Azkaban. Adrian had heard many rumors regarding what the final punishments would be, anything from brands to restricting magic to doing menial labor for the government. When it was clear that the Ministry couldn't pin anything other than Graham Weaver's murder on him, Marcus suspected that he would get the menial labor punishment. He expected to have to bear all sorts of embarrassment and humiliation as he did tasks. This was likely the kindest and gentlest punishment he could have received, and he wondered what he had done to deserve such treatment from the Ministry. Katie was hardly a harsh taskmaster, and what she did ask of him wasn't difficult to do or figure out.

Unfortunately, it also let his mind wander far too much for his liking.

Katie obviously struggled to make ends meet. She ate just enough to get by and be healthy while she breastfed Caroline. None of her belongings were new; Caroline had plenty of pretty and new clothes and toys, though Marcus suspected they were all gifts. Friends of hers, usually Alicia or Angelina, dropped by with takeaway on Fridays or during the weekend, which was apparently the culinary highlight of her week. They showered Caroline with affection and were likely the source of all the gifts. Marcus supposed that the two other women were also checking to see if the arrangement was working out well, but it had an air of familiarity to it that told him it was a regular event. Seeing the supply of food dwindle to nearly nothing every Friday before the early Saturday morning grocery delivery was enough to let him know that there was a purpose to the Friday night get-togethers.

Marcus stood around a lot, and he couldn't help but notice that Katie's clothes hung on her frame. The denims slipped down her hips a lot or rode low as she knelt in front of Caroline. The sweaters slipped down her shoulders, leaving an expanse of skin bare. She slept in little stringy tank tops and her knickers, and was usually too sleepy to notice him standing in the hallway when she went to check on Caroline in the middle of the night. If she fell asleep in the rocking chair, he carried her back to bed before going to sleep himself. She had grown up quite a bit from the skinny girl he used to knock off her broom at Hogwarts. He _noticed,_ even as he knew he probably shouldn't.

"Our little Caro is turning one next week," Alicia announced one Friday. Marcus hadn't even realized that much time had passed.

"Nothing big, guys," Katie said with a sigh.

"As if our godbaby would have something small or insignificant," Alicia snickered. "Oliver can't wait to give her her first broom, you know. He's convinced she's going to be a fabulous chaser like you were at Hogwarts."

Katie gave Alicia a smile, though there was a pained edge to it. "Yeah, I was."

Angelina rolled her eyes at Alicia and resisted the urge to smack the woman on the back of her head. "Well, considering that she's an honorary Weasley at this point..."

"You haven't even set a date with George yet," Katie protested. "That doesn't count..."

"Molly is looking for any excuse to throw a party." Angelina cooed at Caroline. "And your first birthday, sweetie! It's going to be wonderful."

Katie sighed. "I can't possibly..."

"Don't even talk about money," Alicia said firmly. "You do know that I take my role of fairy godmother quite seriously."

"Me, too," Angelina added with a nod. "I don't even want to hear of you chipping in. This isn't for you, after all. This is for Caro."

Katie's smile was somewhat sickly. She didn't want to keep taking advantage of her friends' charity, but she'd never be able to afford a party for Caroline. "I insist on bringing the cake."

"All right," Angelina conceded. "But make it yourself," she said firmly. "Homemade is always better. And I can't make any promises that Molly won't go overboard and have one anyway."

Katie's tension eased somewhat. "She doesn't do things halfway, that's for certain. I remember the last party at the Burrow we all went to..." It was still difficult to mention the twins or Fred, but Katie pasted a smile on her face. "I promise I won't yell if she does."

"Good. I'd hate to have to restrain you if you attack my future mother-in-law," Angelina joked.

Marcus hung back as the friends all ate together, as he usually did when other people entered the flat. Katie had wanted him out of her way, and he was doing just that. Alicia or Angelina would sometimes ask how he was, and Katie always shrugged and said he was doing fine. That usually seemed to settle the issue. He tended to clear away plates once they had gone for the evening, still keeping out of Katie's way.

"Would you bring him?" Alicia asked, nodding toward the kitchen where Marcus was sitting alone with the portion of dinner they had brought for him.

Katie seemed to falter as she brought her glass to her lips. "I don't know..."

"Just asking, so we know how many to tell Molly," Alicia replied in a breezy tone. "One more or less won't bother her in the slightest."

"I have to think about it, I suppose." Katie sounded uncertain, and looked back at the kitchen with a troubled glance. "I hadn't really thought about how this would all work out."

"Well, no one did," Angelina returned, rolling her eyes. "It's the Ministry we're talking about here. It's not as though they'd be overly reasonable about anything." She shrugged and smiled at Katie's nod of agreement. "If you did, he could help bring presents home. Because you know the little girl is going to be spoiled rotten."

Katie supposed that hearing about Graham's mother at St. Mungo's and her own mother being so difficult had made Molly Weasley feel sorry for her. Unfortunately, the other woman had been busy on the day of the Ministry hearing, so she had to ask her mother for help. "I don't have a lot of room here..."

"Shrinking charms, woman," Angelina reminded her with a laugh. "You'd be surprised how much you can fit into a storage box with them."

"And you know that the lot of them could handle themselves," Alicia added, pulling Caroline into her lap when the infant was wandering off from the coffee table where they were all seated for dinner. "Between all the Aurors and Order members in the family, nothing terrible could possibly happen to either of you."

"Because of Flint?" Katie asked, baffled. "Of course not, silly. There's that collar, remember?"

"Just saying, if that's why you were worried about it," Alicia returned with a shrug. "There's been fire calls from other people to the Auror department, all worriers wondering when the spells are going to be wearing off and they're found murdered in their beds."

"Idiots, the lot of them," Angelina declared.

"Well, of course," Alicia agreed. "But then, I suppose not too many people are comfortable yet with the idea."

"Well, it means you have something to do at your job," Katie said brightly. "I am not that idiotic, however. I reserve the right to be incredibly stupid in other ways."

Angelina snorted and poked Katie in the arm. "Oi, you. This isn't a pity party. And I forbid you from looking down and out at the party next weekend, too. Or at your own party."

"I am _not_ having a party," Katie protested.

"Of course you are!" Alicia said, scandalized. "You'd hurt Oliver incredibly if he couldn't throw you one! He couldn't do it last year."

"I was in no shape to be social last year," Katie replied. She took Caroline and perched the child on her lap. Caroline laughed and turned around to begin climbing up Katie's shirt. "Or this year, really. I don't want a party."

"Oh, don't be silly," Alicia scoffed. "You want a party. You just don't want a _flashy_ party. I can limit Oliver's spending." At Angelina's snort, Alicia let out an indignant huff. "Well, I can. I just refuse to do so when he's buying me jewelry."

Katie giggled and rolled her eyes at Alicia. "Speaking of which, I meant to ask if those earrings were new. They are, aren't they?"

"I mentioned _one_ time I liked them, and he buys three pairs. The man is a complete shopping addict. Makes me look like I window shop, he does." Alicia took off the earrings and handed them to Katie. "Here. See what they look like on you, love." Reluctantly, Katie took the diamond teardrop earrings. "Oh, just try them on," Alicia said, waving at Katie. "I'm not telling you to keep them yet."

"Yet, she says," Katie said, playfully grousing at her friend. Most of the clothes she had were Alicia's castoffs; Alicia was constantly shopping, which had always been a source of joking between the three of them. She had somehow managed to keep up the habit throughout the war. Katie had mentioned once that she liked Alicia's taste, and that had been the end of it. Every time Alicia replaced her wardrobe, Katie received the older clothes, some still with tags. Katie pulled out a few items to keep, but passed along the rest to donation bins or thrift shops. Alicia was taller and a size or two bigger than she was, but it beat trying to scrimp the knuts together for clothes to wear. She had tried tailoring charms at first, but her hems were never even enough to make it worth her while.

Alicia contemplated how Katie looked in the earrings. "You're right. You should keep them."

"As if you were going to let me do anything else."

"Well, eventually we're piercing Caro's ears. Then I get to play fairy godmummy and buy her all sorts of things," Alicia told Katie cheerfully.

"I promise to try to rein her in," Angelina added with a laugh. "And I'll even try to rein in Oliver for whatever he's planning for you."

Katie pulled a face. "Does he really? I'd rather not. I'd depress everybody."

"Why?" Angelina grasped her arm tightly. "You made it through in one piece, you've got Caro and you're making it all work. You're doing everything you promised you'd do, Katie. That's got to be something to celebrate. Otherwise, what was the point to doing it?"

Katie looked at the earnest faces of her friends. "You're right," she said with a sigh. "All right, all right. I'll have this party that you're throwing. But nothing huge, you hear me?"

"Promise," Angelina said with a solemn nod.

The rest of the visit went by quickly, and they left when it was time for Caroline to go to bed. Katie nearly jerked in surprise when she saw Marcus standing outside of the bedroom when she was leaving. The bathroom was already cleaned. Other nights, Marcus went to his own bedroom and shut the door. Katie didn't ask him to do anything at night, as she usually read a bit and then went to bed. "I didn't expect you there."

"It's your birthday coming up. And Caroline's. You didn't say anything about that."

"It's all right. It's not a big deal. You don't have to get us anything."

He didn't have access to his vaults even if he knew what to get. Marcus merely shook his head. "You didn't add anything to the weekly shopping list for birthday items."

"We're not going to do anything special," Katie said with a shrug. "We just won't have cupcakes on Thursday and Friday. I'll use that to bake the cake for Saturday."

There was a public floo room in the building, but Marcus wasn't allowed out of the flat without her express permission. He couldn't send any messages to Adrian any other way, as Katie no longer had an owl. "I didn't realize that much time passed," Marcus began slowly. "Could I floo or write to my cousin?"

Katie blinked in surprise. She hadn't given any thought to his family, just as he hadn't really given any thought to hers. "Um, I suppose you could use the floo room while we're at the park," Katie said. "Then come right back, before anyone in the building gets the idea to do something nasty to you."

"I didn't know you cared," he said as Katie opened the door to her bedroom.

She looked at him in confusion. "I'm not cruel, Flint. There's been enough pain already."

Not knowing how to answer that, he went to bed.

***  
***


	3. Birthday Surprises

The party for Caroline was in the afternoon. Alicia arrived to be sure that Katie didn't simply back out of the event. She had also brought along yet another new outfit for Caroline, though this one was clearly too large for the child. "Oh, I suppose you'll just have to save it for later," Alicia told Katie brightly, shoving the dress at her hands. "She'll grow into it. Now, I've brought a little something for you to look fabulous in."

Though she was clearly ambivalent about accepting the dress, Katie finally did so. As she got Caroline's diaper bag, Alicia saw Marcus sitting in the corner of the living room. "Is he coming with us, Katie?"

Katie looked from Alicia to Marcus, the uncertainty written all over her face. "Well, I hadn't really thought about it. I mean, I don't know..."

"Well, I'm pretty sure he won't destroy the flat while you're gone, since you already go to the park without him," Alicia said matter-of-factly, picking up Caroline. "And you're not worried about him being amongst all of us war veterans and Aurors, so it's simple. Do you want him there to cater to you or not? Personally, I think you might as well. He can carry Caro for you and grab all of the presents she's going to be getting. Might as well."

Biting her lip, Katie looked over at Marcus and nodded. "All right, then. Come along."

He looked at the dresses that the two women were wearing. He was still in the dark gray of Ministry prisoners, though it was at least a nice enough shirt and trousers instead of a jumpsuit that had been mass produced by other prisoners at Azkaban. "Is this appropriate enough?"

Alicia seriously considered the question even as Katie looked chagrined by it. "Well, you're certainly not flashy. He's not allowed colors?"

"I... I hadn't thought of it," Katie admitted.

Alicia dug out her wand and turned the shirt green. "There. That looks better. More festive. Come on, then. I've got Caro. I'll meet you there." She apparated out with a pop.

Katie felt a sense of shame as Marcus towered over her in the foyer. "I'm sorry," she said softly.

"What for?"

"I didn't think... about other things, like colors or what you might like."

"It's fine," he assured her. "No one expected you to, least of all me."

She looked up at him with a troubled gaze. "You're awfully accepting of all this. You never once had any dirty tricks to get out of it."

"I did it," he told her, his gaze fixed on the sparkly barrette in her hair. "I should pay for it."

Katie took his arm and apparated to the Burrow. It was done up in pink bows and balloons, with people moving in and out of the rooms. "Er... I suppose it goes without saying that you're allowed anywhere on the Burrow grounds?"

"Good to have confirmation," Marcus replied dryly. "Go have fun. I'll be about somewhere when it's time to collect the presents."

For a little while, Katie forgot that she was tired all the time, or worried about paying bills, or frustrated with how difficult her life had become in the past two years. She enjoyed spending time with her friends, but she was always so very aware of how little she had in comparison. They never made her feel less for it, but she couldn't help but compare herself to them. They had promising careers and shiny trinkets and new things whenever they wanted. She had a tiny flat in a questionable neighborhood and had to count every knut. She couldn't ever regret keeping Caroline, but it was hard not to feel jealous sometimes, to wonder what life would have been like if not for that night at hols the winter after she graduated from Hogwarts.

Though Marcus tried to be unobtrusive, it was hard for him to feel comfortable. The Burrow was crawling with the sort he had avoided in school and after. Maybe it wasn't entirely fair, but he didn't like most of them on sight. They were too self assured, too full of their own importance. Puffed up with the knowledge that they had toppled an unjust government, they were all a little too loud for his liking. He'd gotten used to silence, used to being alone with his thoughts.

"I don't know why she had to bring you," came a voice to his right. Marcus turned to the side and saw George Weasley there. He was the one engaged to Angelina, the one whose twin brother had been killed in the attack. He looked fairly deep into his cups at that point, which might have been the only reason why he was saying what everyone else was thinking at that point.

"Manual labor," Marcus replied evenly. He had known this was what he was in for when the sentence came down. He had known no one would forgive and forget. He knew his sentence was going to be in perpetuity. He had known that. It didn't lessen the sting.

George wasn't drunk enough that his voice would slur or he would stumble. That was several more pints of firewhiskey in his future, and he knew he was headed there. He was just drunk enough that he didn't care if he made Marcus angry, just drunk enough that he was almost ready to provoke a fight just to punch something, just to siphon off the edge of anger and despair that had been with him since Fred was killed.

But Angelina noticed George's sneering face and Marcus' painfully blank one as they stood in the garden. George shoved Marcus backward into the fence before Angelina could get there. "They didn't catch you at it, but you did worse, didn't you? Fucking Death Eater. You killed, didn't you? More than just Graham?" George spat at Marcus' feet as Angelina pulled him back and away from the taller man. He ignored her shushes as well. "The sodding Ministry didn't try hard enough to find any dirt on you, that's all. They didn't fucking _try,_ I know they didn't. Just so eager to get it all over with."

Marcus merely stood where he was, his lips pressed tight together to keep from replying. There was no point, really. There was nothing to say. He had confessed, he had been arrested, he had been found guilty and sentenced at the trial.

Angelina glared at her fiancé. "George, that's enough. I promise you, the Ministry looked into everything. I promise."

George allowed himself to be pulled away after leveling another glare at Marcus' impassive face.

Katie made her way over to him, a drink in hand. She gave it to him with a troubled expression on her face. "Are you all right?"

"Fine," he told her, accepting the drink. "Is this poisoned, by the way?"

She recoiled at his droll tone. "No, of course not!"

Marcus swallowed the punch all at once. "Thank you for your concern," Marcus said, somewhat stiffly. "But I won't harm you or anyone you care about." He pointed at the collar around his neck with a slight grimace. "Remember?"

Katie bristled and stomped off, muttering something about ungrateful Slytherins under her breath. That was fine. He could deal with anger and resentment and frustration. He didn't want pity and he didn't want her caring about him.

After that, the golden Gryffindors seemed to keep a wide berth. He saw the Blessed Trio eying him off and on, but he never did anything more than stand or sit in the yard and keep an eye on Caroline or Katie without either of them knowing. He was surprised to see Draco Malfoy with Ginny Weasley, but supposed that tensions between their families had dropped. He didn't recognize most of the other people, if only because he had never made many friends outside of his House at Hogwarts. His father had been fairly protective of him, as he was an only child and his mother had died when he was young. Family had been of paramount importance, his cousins his responsibility at Hogwarts. It was why he had failed his NEWTS seventh year, after all. Adrian had gotten so sick that morning that he had to be brought to Madam Pomfrey. Marcus stayed until he felt better, but arrived for his exams after they had already sealed the doors.

Caroline had a great time at the party. She toddled around the yard, pulling at the grass or at random pant legs. She was usually close to Katie, sometimes Alicia or Angelina if she couldn't find her mother. She had great fun trying to eat the treats at the party, or smash cake onto her face and dress. Katie was busy with the cleaning charms, which Caroline found ticklish. There were more presents than Katie had feared, so it was just as well that Marcus was there to help hold them all when they returned to Katie's flat.

He was putting the toys away in Caroline's bedroom when she walked toward him and pulled on his pant leg. Katie was hanging up the new clothes as Caroline grinned up at Marcus and clearly said "Dada."

Katie blanched and grasped Caroline. "No, honey. _No._ That's not your father."

Marcus backed up a step as Caroline looked up at Katie in confusion. "I didn't mean to imply anything," he said quickly. "I'm not trying to replace your husband..." he began, hoping the statement was comforting. If anything, Katie flinched and couldn't look him in the eye. "I'll just wait outside."

"You do that," she said, still not looking up, still looking shaken. "It's time for her nap anyway."

He felt a dozen kinds of foolish as he sat down in the chair he had come to think of as his own. Katie hardly sat in it, usually crawling around on the floor with Caroline. He sat a lot, out of the way, or stood in the corner of the room observing everything.

Caroline protested the nap, taking almost an hour to settle down from the excitement of the birthday party. Katie closed the door quietly behind her and then walked into the living room with hesitant steps. "About what she said..."

"I'm sure she didn't mean it that way," Marcus said tiredly, not looking at her. "She's too young to know what it means."

"Yeah, but my reaction..."

"It's not my place," Marcus interrupted in a quiet tone. "I meant it. I'm not replacing anyone or meaning to, if that's what you think."

"I don't," Katie said, her own voice quiet.

"I'm sorry he's dead," Marcus continued. "You probably don't believe me, but I am. It doesn't change anything, and the great love of your life is still dead, but I'm sorry."

With a sigh, Katie sat down on the coffee table, smoothing down the skirt of the dress a little awkwardly. "Graham and I aren't what people thought. Ali and Angie are the only ones that know the truth." She gave him a wan smile at his confusion. "There was no love story or anything like that. It was two friends getting together at hols because we lived after a skirmish with Death Eaters. We had too much alcohol and then I was pregnant. It was a mistake he wasn't willing to let me make alone, that's all."

Marcus stared at her. "They had you sound like a grieving widow."

"I did grieve," Katie replied quietly, not quite able to meet his eyes. "I did love him. But Graham was my friend, not someone I was in love with. We got married because the baby was his, not because we were in love with each other." She looked up then, meeting his eyes with an earnest expression. "He cared, even if it wasn't love like the papers said. And he loved Caro when she was nothing but an idea. We thought we'd be married to raise her, and separate if we ever found someone we wanted to be with. Only, he never got to find someone. That's all."

On impulse, Marcus reached out and clasped her hands in his. "I'm sorry." She could tell he meant it, but she wasn't ready to hear it.

"Yeah," she said, voice hoarse with unshed tears. "Yeah, we all are."

She got up and left the room. Marcus made no move to follow her.

***

Marcus gave Katie a wide berth over the next two weeks. Things were awkward between them again, rather like the first few days he had arrived in her flat. She didn't seem to notice right away that there was a bit more food in the cupboards, or that there were a few extra knuts and sickles in her monthly expenses pouches. He took it to mean she was still agitated about Caroline calling him Dada, even if she said it didn't bother her.

Adrian had been surprised to hear from him, and had been more than willing to send change via owl while Katie was at the park with Caroline. Marcus supposed that the set up would have to change when the autumn turned cold and the baby couldn't play in the park. Adrian also set up a trust fund for Caroline, though the paperwork would take time to clear since it was being done without Katie's knowledge or input. Marcus' vaults were closed to him, but Adrian's were free and clear. Adrian had been at the Final Battle and was a known Death Eater with the Dark Mark, but cleared of all wrongdoing by the Ministry officials that looked into it. He had been a new recruit at the time of the battle, and no major raid could be linked to him. He was free to continue using his funds, living in the Pucey home and looking for a bride at various postwar victory parties. Marcus could tell that Adrian felt sorry for him, but ignored that. He had known what he was doing. Adrian hadn't.

Just before her birthday, Katie was counting out the money in the various pouches she used to divide the stipends she received from the Ministry. All of the pouches were kept in a jar in the top cabinet of the kitchen, and she needed to stand on a chair to get to it. Tallying the expenses for the week and counting out the coins, she had an extra sickle and three knuts in the bag. It was impossible, but there it was. Even counting the extra stipend for Marcus' room and board that the Ministry had allowed, there was an extra sickle and three knuts.

She thought her heart would stop inside her chest. She hadn't underpaid anyone and she hadn't been overpaid. Was she finally able to set a little something aside? Biting her lip, Katie swept the extra money into her palm and simply stared at it. As much as she wanted to run out and buy something nice for Caroline, the baby didn't need it. She didn't need anything either. Oh, she had plenty of _wants,_ but she didn't _need_ anything. It wasn't enough to start an account at Gringotts, but it was worth saving. Katie carefully put the extra money into the bottom of the jar and sealed it back up. It was nice to know she had a little bit extra if she needed it.

Marcus looked up from the Quidditch magazine as she left the kitchen, looking a little stunned. He supposed she found the money, and he smirked behind the magazine's pages. She had such a hard enough time accepting charity, he didn't think she would thank him for it. But if it took the change in Adrian's pocket on Friday mornings to make the difference in her budget, Marcus didn't think Adrian would mind it terribly.

Alicia arrived early that Friday and with a smaller bag of food. She handed it to Marcus and grasped a confused Katie's arm. "You and I are going out for a bit before the party tonight. You can watch Caro, right?" she asked, looking at Marcus.

"Whatever Katie wants me to do."

"Good answer! I swear, I need to get one of those collars for Oliver," Alicia said with a grin. "There's your dinner and some sweets for Caro. I'm stealing her for a bit. Ta!"

Katie protested, but Alicia dragged her to the foyer and apparated with her. Caroline looked up from her toys and Marcus merely stared at the child. Katie hadn't really wanted him involved with her after she had called him Dada, and the child had been confused. Marcus put aside the magazine he had been reading and put the bag of takeaway in the kitchen. When he came back, Caroline had pulled the magazine to the floor and was paging through it. He couldn't help but smirk at the child. She was banging away happily at it, chattering in whatever nonsensical words that passed for language that she had. Marcus sat on the floor beside the girl, and she leaned against his knee, looking up at him expectantly.

He reached around her and took the magazine back. She banged on it insistently, looking almost angry that he took it away from her. "Er... You want me to read this?" Caroline banged on it again with the flat of her palm, then banged on his knee.

Not knowing what else to do with the child, he began reading the magazine and pointing at the pictures in much the same way Katie did with the children's books she borrowed.

In the meantime, Alicia brought Katie dress shopping. "You and I are getting something for the party. I looked at my closet, and there's nothing I want to wear. So we're getting new dresses."

"You just got me a new dress two weeks ago..."

"You wore that already," Alicia said with a grin. "Come on, you can't wear the same dress twice a season. It's practically law somewhere."

"I think I liked you more before you were dating Oliver. You spent a lot less."

"It's just money," Alicia scoffed. She slung an arm around Katie's shoulders. "It's the memories of being with me that should last a lifetime, yeah?"

Reluctantly, Katie tried on perhaps a dozen different dresses, fifteen pairs of shoes and three different sets of accessories until Alicia was satisfied with the outfit. "That's the one," she declared finally. "My tab, of course," she told the attendant. "That's a birthday present from me."

The attendant charged the entire outfit to Alicia's account and even provided a birthday cupcake for Katie. Katie managed not to cry at the simple gesture, and smiled up at them. "Thank you," she said, blinking. She looked at the candle on the cupcake. "Do I make a wish?"

"Of course, silly. And on tonight's cake, too." Alicia grinned as Katie thought about what to wish for. "Come on, the frosting's melting!"

_I wish for this year to be better than last year,_ she thought as she blew out the candle. It was what she wished for every year, but it was just as fitting.

Oliver had gone as overboard as Katie had been afraid of, though he justified it by making it party to celebrate both her eighteenth and nineteenth birthdays. Marcus sat off to the side, in a maroon shirt and black pants; ever since Caroline's birthday, there was a bit more color in the wardrobe. Apparently even that had to be approved before he could have it. The thought made her sorry for him, even though she knew her friends would have called her a softie for it. She had meant what she said; she didn't intend to be cruel, she just didn't want to think about him. She didn't want to think about the Final Battle and all the fallout from that day. She just wanted to move on, even if she didn't quite know how.

"You outdid yourself," Katie said as she danced with Oliver. "An entire club just for my birthday party? Even holding back you still go overboard."

He laughed and spun her about easily. "Katie, love, I wish you'd let me get you a spot on open tryouts. I still think you'd be a smashing chaser for us."

"I've got responsibilities now, I told you. Go recruit Ali if you need a chaser that badly."

"Ali can take a day off and watch Caro while you fly. And then we'll think of something when you make the team."

"I can't just leave her with someone I don't know on a regular basis," Katie protested, shaking her head. "It's sweet of you to think I could still fly like I could back at school."

"I'm sure you can. I still say you were one of the best chasers I've ever seen." Oliver never tired of the argument, never stopped trying to pull her out of her shell. Katie wasn't entirely sure why she resisted it so much. "You deserve a party like this every once in a while."

Katie only laughed as he spun her about again. "Keep talking like that and Ali will get jealous."

But Oliver laughed at the joke and handed her off to Lee. By the end of the night, she danced with all of her old Hogwarts friends from her year, the DA or the House Quidditch team. Harry even managed not to step on her toes. She supposed that he had gotten lessons since the Yule Ball, when he mangled his poor date's feet despite all his practice.

She supposed she wasn't used to alcohol any longer, if there was concern about her being tipsy enough to splinch herself going home. But then, she had to apparate herself, Caroline and Marcus, who had sat in the back and watched her every move. She felt his eyes on her back as she danced, as she forgot for a little while that she was supposed to be a grieving widow and single mother, that she was supposed to be scrimping and saving and carving out a hole in her life to make ends meet. For a little while she could pretend it was any other party at any other time, that she still had a future as bright as the one she had dreamed of back at the girls' dorm before she knew how dark things could get.

Marcus caught her when she stumbled, concern etched across his features. Perhaps Alicia or Angelina had spoken to the Weasleys; while they all glowered at him, every one of them except for Ginny, none had approached him as he sat in the back of the club. He watched over Caroline as she slept in the portable crib someone had brought, and he kept watch over the pile of books and gift certificates that were the only kind of presents that Katie would accept. He had watched her dance with everyone in the room, fluid and graceful as she spun about and laughed and had a good time. Something in his chest had shriveled at the sight, at the bitter knowledge that she blamed him for taking all of this away from her.

"She can't apparate like this," Angelina said with a frown. "I didn't think of this. Maybe we can take you all home?" she asked, despite the glower on George's face as he stood beside her.

But Katie merely laughed in Marcus' arms and waved off her friend. "Oh, but we're fine. Flint can take me home." She looked up at him with an expression of perfect trust. "Can't you? You know where I live."

"I can't use magic without your permission," he reminded her quietly. "And I haven't a wand to do any magic with anyway."

"Serves you right," George grumbled under his breath, even as Angelina elbowed him in the gut.

Katie hadn't heard. She frowned prettily at him and pulled her wand out of the hem of her skirt where she had tucked it away for safe keeping. "Here. Use mine. I think maybe I _am_ drunk. I know there can't be two Angies."

"Yeah, she'd definitely splinch herself," Angelina said with a frown. "I'll check on you tomorrow, then," she told Katie, who was leaning on Marcus as if he was the only thing keeping her upright. "I didn't know you had _that_ much to drink."

"Three? Maybe?" Katie said with a smile. "I forget."

Marcus shook his head. Three pints in the first hour, maybe, but there had been the six shots of berry bourbon at the bar with the girls, four glasses of wine with dinner, two tall mixed drinks in between all the dances with her golden Gryffindors and then something fizzy that someone had handed to her just twenty minutes before she stumbled in Marcus' direction.

Angelina lofted an eyebrow at Marcus but didn't say anything. George still glowered at him, but seemed ready to walk away at least. "Get her home safe, will you?"

"I promise on my life," he murmured, and the Unspeakable blinked in surprise at the honesty in his tone. She didn't have time to say anything, as Marcus moved to gather Caroline and the shrunken bag of presents that Alicia and Oliver had put together for him to carry.

"I still don't understand why you and Ali aren't as hard on that arse as you should be," George grumped as they went toward the other party stragglers.

Angelina sighed. "We know there's something more to it, that's all. It didn't make sense."

"He confessed to it," George said, shrugging. "What more do you need?"

_Proof,_ Angelina thought with a sigh. All of the proof collected by Aurors on the scene hadn't added up properly, but everyone had pushed the trial through. None of it made proper sense, but Katie was the only one that could reopen the case if she wanted to. Angelina doubted it, though. Katie hadn't pushed to look at any of the court data herself, hadn't even asked how it happened that day. She hadn't even gone to the trial until the last day when she had to. It was as if she tried so hard to forget it, even when it was clear that she couldn't.

She looped her arms around George's shoulder and pulled him up against her as if they were going to dance. "You're a good sort, George Weasley."

He grinned at her and kissed her forehead tenderly. "It's why you're with me. And the laughs. It's definitely for the laughs." Though the laughs had only recently come back, and there was a strained edge to it. They both remembered Fred far too much, and it was still painful. "He'd've loved it tonight," George murmured. "Would've come up with some pranks for that arse there."

"Yeah. Maybe. But he's getting the punishment the Ministry wants. Whatever you two would've dreamed up would've been cruel and unusual punishment."

George laughed. "Maybe. Probably." At Angelina's look, he laughed again. "Definitely."

"Let it go, George. Nothing bad is happening at her flat, and she's obviously okay."

"Graham was one of us, Angie. I can't just forget he ever existed."

"I'm not saying that, George," Angelina told him patiently. She kissed him and held him close. "But if we can't move past it or forgive, are we any better than they were?"

He sighed. "Maybe I don't want to be better. Maybe I still want to punch him in the face and see if it makes it feel better."

"It didn't when you decked Malfoy."

"Ah, but it was a glorious try." He kissed Angelina's cheek. "He's definitely more respectful."

Angelina snorted. "He's outnumbered here. Of course he is, he's not stupid."

George spun Angelina out in time to imaginary music and then pulled her back in. "True. And if Ginny ever feels the need, we'll all make him aware of how outnumbered he is."

"Assuming she leaves any pieces for you to find."

"Touche, bride to be," George agreed. "Come on, then. Let's go home."

***

Caroline went to sleep in her crib without complaint, and Marcus looked about for Katie after shutting the door. He found her standing at the windows in her living room, looking down at the ground. "Katie?" he called softly.

"He was a terrible dancer," Katie murmured, pressing her face and fingers to the glass of her window. "We didn't have a proper reception, no dancing or music or cake. He said it really didn't matter, because we'd always have my birthday party. He hated celebrating his birthday. He hated parties in general, really."

Marcus pulled her away from the window and she sat down on her faded couch. He sat down beside her, not sure what kind of mood she was in. "Are you all right?" he asked gently, looking at her profile in concern.

"I can't remember what he looks like. I know the general shape of things," she said, gesturing vaguely, looking off in the distance. "There's pictures for Caroline to look at someday and know who he is and what he's like. But I can't remember what he looks like. I can't find his face in Caro's. I can't remember the sound of his voice. I'm forgetting him."

"You remember the parts that matter," Marcus murmured, taking her hand in his. It was cold, and she shivered. "You remember the important parts of him."

"There's not much to tell Caroline, isn't that awful? Just little things..."

Katie turned to look at Marcus, and their mouths met. Startled, she registered how soft his lips where, how hunched over his shoulders were to make their heads the same level. He had broken himself to pieces after Graham's murder without complaint, bent over backward to do whatever she asked of him. It didn't even seem entirely due to the collar around his neck.

When Katie didn't pull away, Marcus slid a hand along the curve of her jaw. Her mouth opened under his and she closed her eyes, sighing contentedly at the feel of the kiss. Marcus' hand slid down the curve of her neck, down to caress the skin of her shoulder, fingertips sliding under the edge of the shoulder strap.

The kiss broke slowly, and Katie looked at him with sleepy eyes. "That was good," she said softly, looking at him in wonder.

He still had his hand along her shoulder, the palm resting over the smooth expanse of skin at the top of her chest. He didn't even dare to breathe. "Yeah. Really good."

She leaned forward and rested her head on his chest. "Don't slouch," she murmured, looping an arm around his waist. "It's not a good look for you."

"Have you been looking?" Marcus asked, mouth running dry.

"Dunno. Maybe more than I should."

Marcus let his hand slide across the shoulder strap to her shoulder, then down the length of her arm. He'd been looking more than he should, as well. "Happy birthday, Katie."

She nodded against his chest and simply held him. "Thanks for being here. It's nice not being alone anymore."

Marcus let his eyes fall shut as he wrapped his other arm around her. "Yeah, it is."

Katie fell asleep against his chest, and Marcus simply sat there. He didn't want to move yet, didn't want to give up the fantasy just yet. There was time enough for that in the morning.

***  
***


	4. Something to Believe

By unspoken consent, neither mentioned the kiss. She was drunk, she didn't mean it, it didn't mean anything. Only, neither could help but think of it. Katie caught him looking at her as he moved about the flat, and she was sure that he caught her looking at him as well.

Well, this was a fine mess she'd gotten herself into. That was it. No more alcohol. Ever. It did nothing but make her life difficult.

She could ignore him. Of course she could. She'd done it just fine in the first weeks of his stay in her flat. She could forget about the kiss, which had been simple and sweet and still somehow the best kiss she had ever gotten in her life. She could forget about it, along with everything else she had ever wanted, because there was no way she could get another one, right? Right. There was no use thinking about it or wanting another one.

Katie lasted all of three days. She cornered Marcus on his hands and knees in her kitchen while Caroline was down for the night, scrubbing at the floor as if his life depended on it. She pulled him backward and looked into his startled expression. "You kissed me." He remained silent, and Katie bit her lip. "On my birthday, you kissed me."

"You were drunk," Marcus murmured. "You didn't mean it."

Katie blinked. "Didn't mean what?"

"To kiss back."

She looked at him, stunned, her mouth parting in surprise. "But of course I did."

He disentangled her hands from his arms slowly. "You were drunk," he insisted. "You didn't mean it. You couldn't mean it."

Without thinking, Katie leaned forward and kissed him.

Marcus slid his tongue into her mouth when she made a soft noise, and was most definitely kissing him back. She was grabbing him by the front of his shirt to keep him from moving away, stroking his tongue with hers. He held onto her loose shirt in tight fists, trying to keep from sliding his hands anywhere she wouldn't want them to go. Only, this kiss was already making him half hard for her, and the way things kept up, she would find out soon.

Katie broke the kiss and dragged him into the living room. She pushed him down to the couch and straddled his waist. She pouted when he pushed her back slightly. "What?"

"Why?" he asked, searching her face. "What do you want?"

Something in her chest felt tight and painful at the empty, wounded tone to his voice. "I can't stop thinking about it," she whispered. "I like how you kiss."

It wasn't because she could, because she had the power to demand whatever she wanted from him. Marcus felt almost ashamed for thinking the worst of her, for thinking it was anything other than the innocent desire it was.

He pulled her down for a searing kiss, hand at the back of her head and tangling in her long dark hair. The other was along the curve of her shoulder, his palm flat against the rise of her breast as it had been the night of her birthday. She was leaning into his touch, a hand on his chest for balance as she hovered above him and the other threading through his hair.

Someone broke the kiss for air, and Marcus leaned up to kiss the underside of her jaw. She shivered, moving her hands to grasp his shoulders. Marcus let his hands fall to the rise of her breasts over the large shirt she had worn that day. "You're beautiful," he murmured against her skin, feeling her tremble under his hands.

She shook her head and pulled back to look at him. "Not today, I'm not."

Marcus slid his hands around to her back, feeling her bare back under the shirt. "Every day," he murmured, looking up at her. The iron cuffs had to be cold against her skin, but she seemed too busy looking at him with large eyes. Taking a chance, he drew the shirt upward.

Katie shrugged out of it, exposing herself to him. Still, it didn't feel awkward at all, as if this had been a path they'd been heading out on for some time. Maybe they had.

She could feel his appreciative gaze like a tangible thing, and felt a low heat stir deep in her belly. Marcus leaned forward and gently took a breast into his mouth, and Katie gasped at the sensation of it. His large hands were spread across her back, and it felt as if they were the only things keeping her grounded. She curled up around him, her head falling onto the top of his as she gasped for breath. Her fingers dug into his shoulder blades as his tongue made lazy circles around the nipple. "M-Marcus," she stammered, voice breaking as he started to suck. "Oh, that feels good," she moaned.

This had to be a dream. She wasn't hexing him or commanding him to disappear somewhere for overstepping his bounds. But the milk that spurted onto his tongue was sweet, and that made it all too real. He moved his hands to undo her denims and slide them down her hips. Katie made a soft mewling sound as his fingers brushed the front of her knickers. He could smell her arousal, could almost drown in it.

Katie sucked in a breath when his fingers slipped beneath the waistband of her knickers. She suddenly wished she had fancy lacy ones like Alicia had always joked she should have. She dressed in large, dumpy clothes, often even foregoing things like a bra or camisole because it was easier to feed Caroline that way. Now she was thankful, because Marcus still had his mouth on her breast and his fingers were sliding along her slick folds and it felt marvelous.

He traced her wetness then dragged a fingertip across her clit. She arched against his hand and grasped the back of his head with desperate fingers. Marcus could tell that she was biting her lip to keep quiet, to try to strangle her cry so she wouldn't wake Caroline. He suddenly wanted to hear her, to have her call out his name as he sank into her, as he made her come so hard she forgot everything else that had happened. He flicked his finger across her clit as he moved to lick and suck her other breast, her soft mewls driving him mad. He wanted her so badly he was nearly shaking with need.

Katie's eyes were closed and she simply reveled in the feel of his hands on her. She could feel her body tighten as she approached orgasm. She was panting, moaning at the feel of his fingers on her clit and his tongue on her nipple and the other hand at her back making long strokes against her skin. She came with a strangled groan, nearly collapsing over him. She gave a soft sigh when she realized he was still stroking her, still moving against her clit. He was kissing the valley between her breasts, licking her skin. She couldn't even speak, could only gasp and make appreciative noises as he worked her to another orgasm, then another.

The tension she had seemed to carry for the weeks he had known her seemed to melt from her limbs. Marcus wanted to be inside her, and tugged at her denims. She helped kick them and her knickers off impatiently. He smiled at the frustration as she settled back over him, completely bare and wet. "Katie," he murmured, sliding his hands along her sides.

She reached for him, rubbing his cock through the soft cloth of his trousers. Marcus groaned and leaned his head back along the couch. One hand drifted down between her thighs, fingers finding her wet core and sliding inside. Katie sucked in a breath and tilted her hips toward his hand. "Mmm, yes," she moaned. She freed his erection and tugged at his trousers. Marcus lifted his hips and let her pull them down inch by inch, until they had fallen past his knees to the floor. "I want all of you," she purred, grasping his cock in her hand.

Marcus thought he might come just from the sound of her voice. "Anything," he groaned.

Katie sank down over his length with a soft sigh of contentment. Marcus grit his teeth to keep from coming. She was tight and wet and everything he had wanted her to be, and she felt so delicious he wanted more. She rocked against him, her hands wound through his hair as she gasped for breath. Marcus kept one hand at the small of her back, pulling her in closer so that he could drive deeper inside of her. The other was up at her shoulder blades, giving her something to lean on when she let her head fall back.

Her entire body started to tighten when she was close, and Marcus came inside of her. He moved his lower hand so that his thumb could brush up against her clit. A few strokes and then she came, tight as a vise around his cock. He groaned and merely pulled her in close as she gasped for breath and trembled in his arms.

"Wow," she murmured, eyes still shut. She was barely able to string words together. "Oh, wow."

Marcus wanted to grin, but merely pressed his lips against her neck. She couldn't regret this. It would break him utterly if she did.

"My room?" she managed after her breathing slowed to a more normal pace.

The tension in Marcus's body eased. He smiled against her skin and shook his head. "My room. Your bed's too small."

"How'd you get a bigger bed than me?" she asked, breathing still too fast for normal speech.

Marcus laughed. "I'm a big man and need more space, so the spell accommodated me."

"Yeah, but I don't think I could walk there," Katie panted. "Still can't move."

He disentangled their limbs and carefully picked her up in his arms after kicking off his trousers and underwear. Though she was surprised and squealed in a most undignified manner, she clung to him and buried her face in the crook of his neck. Marcus laid her down carefully on his bed and watched her take a look around the room. It was sparsely furnished and could have fit into his closet back at Flint Manor. There was the bed, one bedside table with a lamp and a charmed armoire that his clothing was in. "It's not very much. Or pretty."

Katie pulled him down on top of her. "Don't care," she murmured, pulling him in for a kiss. He shrugged out of the shirt and reveled in the feel of her hands on his back, the way her fingertips brushed across the skin like she was afraid he was going to leave.

She cried out when he sank into her again, then cupped her hands around his buttocks to draw him in deeper. He thrust deeply, long strokes that had her moaning and writhing beneath him, pulling his pillow against her mouth to muffle her cries. Marcus moved faster, harder, watching her face. Katie's eyes were shut, her mouth open as she gasped and moaned, her head thrown back against his pillow. She was wanton and beautiful and _his_ for however long this impossible moment could last. She came, moaning his name. He shut his own eyes and thrust through the rippling sensations as her body milked his cock. With a strangled groan, he came as well, collapsing on top of her.

Katie wrapped her arms around his shoulders and tucked her face into the crook of his neck. She could feel herself trembling, and wondered if she should care that she had just had the most incredible sex of her life with the man that had killed Graham. But then Marcus kissed her cheeks and nose and mouth almost reverently, as if she was a gift he was afraid to open, and she couldn't even regret it. The man almost had a sense of honor, if she could only figure out what it was, and sincerely regretted the pain he had caused her. Whatever she felt for him or about him, she knew she could trust him with whatever it was.

Maybe it was the start of forgiveness.

***

"Am I hallucinating, or did Caro actually sleep through the night?" Katie mumbled, hearing her morning alarm clock through the paper thin walls between her room and Marcus'. He was still half on top of her, but the weight of him was comforting rather than alarming.

"I think she did," he mumbled, still curled tightly around her. "About time, too."

Katie found herself running her hands along the tops of his shoulders, her fingers brushing the hair at the nape of his neck. "Shower," she mumbled, her eyes still shut from sleep. "We should get up. She'll be up and wanting to play."

"Shower together?" he asked, sounding fractionally more awake. Once Marcus realized what he said, he stilled and seemed almost wary of her response.

But she was never the most alert of people first thing in the morning, and she didn't realize why he suddenly seemed edgy. "Yeah. I don't think she'd notice," Katie replied with a yawn. "I remember when I used to be able to sleep in. Lovely days, those were."

In the shower, Marcus had her pinned against the tile wall, her legs wrapped around his waist as he drove his length into her. Suddenly very awake, Katie grasped at his shoulders and tried to remember how to breathe. She tried to squeeze her legs tighter around his waist as she struggled breathe. "Harder," she panted, burying her face in the crook of his neck to muffle the next groan she made. "Merlin, yes, like that..."

Katie was tight and wet and even the pressure of her fingers on his shoulders didn't detract from that. He groaned as he pushed his length into her. She moaned as her body tightened around him, fingernails sinking into his shoulders. "Merlin, Katie. Merlin, you feel so good."

"Marcus," she whimpered, close to coming. "Please," she whispered against his ear. She moaned, mouth falling open as she struggled ever closer to release. She made a soft sound of pleasure, panting as she approached her own orgasm.

"Katie, Katie, I can't..." he ground out, reaching between them to stroke her clit. She made a strangled cry as she came, pulsing around him, coaxing him to finish with her. He came with a groan and sagged against her, pressing her into the tile wall.

She made a contented humming noise in the back of her throat, and then said "Best way to wake up in the morning ever."

Marcus wanted to laugh, and kissed her slack mouth. "Yeah, that it is."

He caught her looking at him more often during the day as she played with Caroline and tried to teach the names of things. He didn't think the baby actually knew what she was talking about, naming colors and shapes and letters, but she did it with an endless enthusiasm that was almost infectious. That was the Quidditch-mad girl he remembered from school. That was the girl that had mouthed off at him for a foul with language that could blister paint. That was the girl that developed the tolerance for alcohol that led to their first kiss.

He had to remind himself. This was also the girl with the dead husband and year old baby with the tiny flat and bills stacked high enough that a pocket full of change every week tipped the balance so she didn't worry quite so much. This was also the girl in whose charge he was, the one that could cheerfully order him to mutilate himself if she was so inclined.

But she looked up at him from time to time, a shy smile on her face and the beginnings of a flush across her cheeks. It was enough to make his groin tighten at the memory of how she felt in bed, how her skin tasted, how she sounded when he was buried to the hilt inside of her.

He was waiting for the other shoe to drop as the days went on, but it was as if it was a permanent change between them. After putting Caroline to bed, Katie approached him where he hovered in the hallway outside the bedroom doors. His hands slid around her waist, pulling her close, and she stepped on her tip toes and tried to reach up to kiss him. Marcus generally had to lift her up, and she wrapped her arms and legs around him. He stumbled to his bedroom as they kissed, tongues dueling and teasing each other. He slid his hands up beneath her shirt and helped her take it off, then he would kiss and lick and suckle the exposed skin once he had her laid out on his bed. Next came her denims or trousers and soaked knickers.

Sometimes he knelt between her spread thighs and slid his tongue along her wet slit. He lapped at her folds while she struggled to stay quiet, then took her clit between his lips and laved it with his tongue as he slid his fingers inside of her. She writhed, clutching at his sheets with one hand and pulling his pillow over her mouth with the other. She came, as quietly as she could manage, and he slid inside her to begin the exquisite torture again.

Sometimes, cheeks aflame, she turned the tables and pushed him onto his back. She stripped him bare and touched every inch of him, kneeling beside his sprawling form. She dropped feathery kisses along his skin, moving lower until she took him into her mouth. He never let her finish when she did that; he pulled her away before he got too close to coming. She straddled him and rode him hard, his hands on her breasts and her fist in her mouth to keep from screaming at the feel of him deep inside of her.

She was easily the best thing that had ever happened to him since the damnable war began, since his father died and left him Flint Manor, since he had to be responsible for far too much.

With his luck, he knew it couldn't last.

***

Alicia and Angelina commented on Katie's relaxed mood during one of their weekend dinner visits. Katie attributed it to the fact that she had fewer chores to worry about in the household, and Caroline finally was sleeping through the night. When Alicia mentioned that perhaps she wasn't worried about Marcus anymore, it was all Katie could do to keep from blurting out that she was sleeping with him. While she wasn't sorry, it wasn't exactly something she felt like she could explain very well. She hadn't realized that he had been living in her flat for almost five months by that time. It just seemed natural, as if he had every right to be there helping her out with her daily routine and tucking her against his frame at night. She hadn't thought about it at all, and the comments made her wonder if she was going completely mental that she trusted Graham's killer with her body as well as her home and child.

It was something that had distracted her though the rest of the weekend, enough that she pulled away from Marcus Sunday night complaining she was tired. Confused, he had just let her sleep curled up around him and hadn't even done anything more than wrap his arms around her. It had made her feel somewhat guilty, which only made her feel even more confused and irritable by Monday morning. What the hell was wrong with her and why did she even care so much? Things were going well, for once. She hadn't completely fucked up her life, and that had to be a good thing. That would mean stability for Caroline, and things were looking up financially. She didn't have to struggle all the time, she didn't have to worry. She was just borrowing trouble, looking for the next disaster. It didn't have to come. It didn't have to happen.

"You know, it would be easy enough to fix that," Marcus commented as Katie pushed up the sleeves on the shirt she was wearing for the seventh time as she reached for the blocks Caroline tossed aside. "I'm sure I can redo hems nicely," he added with a wry smile, indicating the cuffs on his wrists.

Katie smiled absently at him. "Yes, but I haven't any needles or thread. I'm pants at sewing."

"Well, you've some money to spare to buy some," Marcus replied with a shrug. "Or you could allow me to use your wand and I could always use tailoring charms."

Katie stilled and stared at Marcus. "How did you know I've extra money about?"

He wanted to kick himself for giving it away. Bloody hell. "You count it every Friday."

"Not out loud and not when you're around." Katie frowned at him and got up. She stood over where he was sitting, her expression thunderous. "What do you know about it?"

Fuck. "I found the jar once while putting things away," he replied, shrugging. That was the truth, only it happened the first day he was left alone in the flat. "Thread can't be expensive, right?"

It was irrational, Katie knew. He wasn't going to steal anything because there was no point. He couldn't use the money and he couldn't leave the flat without her permission. But she was just so _angry_ suddenly, like the carefully guarded knuts would disappear if anyone else knew about them, as if she would open the jar now and find it empty of even the week's expense pouch. "You leave that alone, we need that," Katie said, voice rising in anger. Caroline looked over at them, startled, her lip starting to quiver. "Now look what you've done!"

Marcus blinked at her, not sure what had started all of this. One minute, she had been playing with the baby's blocks and the next she was a raving madwoman. "Look," he began soothingly, hands raised in a warding gesture. "I can't do anything you don't want me to, right? See? Still got the cuffs on and everything. I can only do what you tell me to do and nothing more."

If anything, Katie became pale as a sheet. "What?" she asked, chest constricting. Caroline was crying, she couldn't breathe because she was so angry and upset and did Marcus Flint all but say he was sleeping with her because she _told him to?_ "What was that?"

Marcus licked his lips nervously and tried again. "I've got the obedience collar, still," he began slowly. "Still got the cuffs on. Nothing underhanded, all right? You tell me what to do and then I do it. I'm doing everything I'm supposed to be doing, right?"

"Bastard," she snapped, blinking back tears. Katie whirled around and scooped up Caroline in her arms and raced for the foyer to her flat. She didn't even process the stunned expression on his face, the utter incomprehension at what she was upset about. Caroline was screaming, reaching for Marcus, and that just seemed to make things a thousand times worse. This wasn't real, this little idyll she had over the past few weeks. None of it was real, just something she had imagined for herself. She should have known better. She shouldn't have started it, shouldn't have wanted anything, shouldn't have tried to think she could have even a little bit of happiness. She should have known it wouldn't work out. She should have known it was impossible, and she should have kept her damn hands to herself.

Marcus leapt to his feet and started toward the foyer. "Katie, I don't know what this is about but I'll do whatever you want. Just come back..."

_"Sit down!"_ she shrieked, whirling around and pointing her wand at him.

They stared at each other, both of them stunned to silence. Caroline was still wailing, grabbing at Katie's arm to try and get down.

"I have to go," Katie stammered. "I have to get out of here. You're not allowed to leave," she added unnecessarily. She backed up toward the foyer on unsteady feet, nearly falling over as she tripped over the backs of her trainers.

Marcus watched helplessly as she scooped up the diaper bag and then apparated out of the flat, still clutching Caroline for dear life.

He still had no idea what he had done or how he could fix it.

***  
***


	5. Revelations

Katie hadn't been entirely sure where in the Auror Department she would wind up, since the Department consisted of warded areas and portkey doors. She wound up in a reception area, and Caroline's wails slowed to sniffles and muffled whimpers as Katie calmed down to get her bearings. She barreled past the receptionist she barely recognized and headed straight for Alicia Spinnet's office. It was Monday morning, so she knew Alicia would be in the office. She was too upset to think straight, but she was fairly sure she had fucked up something royally. If only she could figure out what.

Alicia frowned as Katie barged into her office carrying the sniffling Caroline. She waved off the disgruntled receptionist and guided Katie down to a chair by her desk. "Okay, Katie. What's gotten your knickers in a twist?"

Instead of answering, Katie burst into tears. Startled, Caroline burst into tears as well.

Alicia covered her face with her hands and took a few bracing breaths. It was far too early in the morning for this sort of thing, but Katie was obviously upset about something. "Okay. I'm going to call Angie. She's got a nice big office and Caro can play while we figure this all out."

Katie nodded helplessly, wiping at her face with one and trying to pull Caroline against her chest with the other. "I... I don't know... what's wrong with me," she gasped between sobs. "I'm a mess," she wailed. "I screwed it all up."

Alicia smoothed Katie's hair down and sent an interdepartmental memo to warn Angelina they were coming. Merlin forbid if she actually had an active investigation going on with a suspect in her office when they all arrived. "We're going to talk about it all at once with Angie, all right? You only have to go through it once."

Katie nodded helplessly, not sure if she could manage anything coherent to say. She let Alicia take Caroline and put the diaper bag back over her shoulder as they went to the Department of Mysteries, where Angelina's office was located. She couldn't keep track of where they were going. Once settled in the office and Caroline was calm enough to play with the stuffed toys from the bag, however, Katie broke out into fresh sobs.

Angelina merely handed her a cup of tea and waited until she calmed down. "All right. Start at the beginning, Katie. I've cleared out my schedule a bit, so you can take all the time you need."

Katie looked up with a grateful expression. She started slowly, telling them about the adjustment in the beginning of Marcus' sentence, finding out bits and pieces about him and starting to trust him. They let her stumble through this, though Katie could tell that they had no idea why any of it was important. It clicked once she mentioned the kiss after her birthday party. Angelina sighed and Alicia covered her mouth quietly. "And since then... He and I..." Katie couldn't even bring herself to admit it, looking down at her clenched hands in her lap. "And it's not even... I mean... I thought... I _hoped_... He said he only did it because I told him to! Like I raped him!" she wailed finally, giving up trying to make sense of the situation. It simply hurt, and she couldn't figure out why it hurt so much.

They both blinked at her, not sure what to say. Alicia made a choking sound. "Oh, Merlin. You did not just say that you raped Marcus Flint? Seriously? That's impossible!"

Angelina handed Katie a tissue to dry her eyes. "You love him, don't you?" she asked quietly.

Katie sniffled and looked at her two friends. "Yes. No. I don't know."

Alicia sighed and looked at Katie. "Oh, honey, you don't get worked up over just anybody. And you're not some tart that sleeps around."

"I shouldn't be," Katie whined, sniffling. "He killed Graham and it makes no sense at all!"

Angelina sighed. "Does it make you feel any better to know I've had my doubts about that?"

Katie looked at her blankly. "What are you talking about?"

"You never were interested much in the details of the case. And with Caro, I didn't blame you," Angelina said with a shrug. "But Ali and I looked into it, if there was something we could do."

"On your behalf, you know," Alicia supplied helpfully. "We had to protect you and our godbaby, after all. And with that moron in charge of the investigation, it had to be done right."

Katie looked between their earnest faces. "And?"

"I've never been really convinced of anything," Angelina said. "It just never added up."

"His wand had the killing curse, and he admitted to it, but there was no other evidence. Even the admission didn't sound right, like he was just saying whatever the investigators wanted to hear," Alicia added. "I've done plenty, Angie's done plenty. The story he told was barely even a story, and it just didn't sound right. But nobody pushed, because he just admitted to it without anyone threatening to torture him, and everyone just wanted it done."

"Torture?" Katie asked weakly, looking at her friends incredulously.

"Most of the higher level Death Eaters refused to admit anything. Some of the more... zealous, I suppose?" Angelina shrugged and pulled a face to show her distaste for the process that had led to most confessions and arrests in the days following the Final Battle. "It wasn't pretty and I don't think it was right. But it happened, and Flint never put up a fuss. Let himself be tossed into a cell, never kicked up a fight, never made trouble for any of the guards. It was like that day at the trial. He sat there, said everything all over again, got his sentence. It just didn't feel right."

Katie looked between her two friends. "So he might not be guilty? He might be innocent?"

"But he confessed," Alicia pointed out. "So this isn't anything more than a hunch on our part, and not anything our superiors wanted to hear."

It made no sense. Why confess to something he had never done?

"Look, it doesn't matter what we think, anyway. We can't prove anything," Angelina was saying as Katie sat there, stunned. "As far as everyone is concerned, he's the one that killed Graham and he's serving his sentence. Whatever else that happens is up to you."

Katie blinked and looked at Angelina. "What do you mean?"

"You love him," she told Katie simply, shrugging. "You're the one that decides what this means, not us, not anyone else. If you want him to be part of your family, this is your choice. We'll respect it and help you with whatever you decide."

Family. Something in her chest tightened at the thought of Marcus with Caroline, sitting there with the blocks or books or Katie's insistence in trying to teach her a foreign language. She liked sitting with him after Caroline went to sleep, being held and not feeling like she was alone. He could be family if she wanted him to be, even if she barely knew anything about his family. He had a cousin Adrian, but that was about it. Other than the one time Marcus had mentioned him, looking almost anxious...

Something clicked in Katie's mind. "I need to go talk to somebody."

Angelina and Alicia eyed her warily. "Um... Who and why?" Alicia asked.

"I think I might know why he confessed, but I'm not sure and I don't want to get anybody into trouble if I'm wrong," Katie told them. "I'll tell you everything once I get this sorted out."

They helped her collect her belongings. Katie didn't even know where to begin looking for Adrian Pucey, as she'd never really interacted with him much outside of the Quidditch pitch at school. Angelina's eyebrows crawled up toward her hairline, but she remained silent when Katie asked how to find him. Alicia looked it up and handed Katie the apparition coordinates for an art gallery in a posh neighborhood in London.

"You owe us a story," Alicia warned her.

"Not to mention a few pints," Angelina added.

Katie nodded and smiled at them. "I promise to have both for you really soon."

Katie understood the hesitancy in letting her apparate to the gallery once she arrived. It was a fairly posh place, and here she was dressed sloppily with an overstuffed diaper bag and sniffling child in tow. She garnered a lot of odd looks, but steeled herself against them as she walked into the gallery. She was used to getting odd looks for having a child so young when not wearing a wedding ring. She was used to people staring and thinking the worst of her. It stung, but she was used to this kind of thing.

A gallery employee steered her toward a back office. Adrian Pucey was in the office with a pile of papers and parchments on his desk. He apparently was both gallery manager and contributor of most of the pieces in the main showroom.

He waved off the employee and asked after her needs as if she was a finely dressed patron in the gallery. Katie glowered at him after a moment, not being put off by the shower of attention, nice as it was. "Did you kill Graham Weaver?"

Adrian choked on his coffee at the blunt question. "Merlin, Bell, what kind of question is that?"

"Did you?" she asked coldly, glaring at him.

Adrian looked from her to the baby chewing on a stuffed toy in her lap. She hardly looked like a formidable opponent, but he was taking nothing for granted. People did extraordinary things for family, and she was a mother. He had no illusions that he would be spared if Katie Bell thought tearing him apart would save her child from pain.

"My cousin Marcus was tried and convicted of that crime," Adrian told her. "What's this all about? You didn't even go to the trial and suddenly you want to ask me something like that?"

"Yeah. Now I do. So did you?"

"Look, if it's more money or food you need, it's fine. You just have to ask. But Marcus insisted that just change..."

"Wait a mo'," Katie ordered, brows knit. "What are you talking about?"

Adrian looked at her for a moment, then cringed once he realized what he said. "Bollocks. You weren't supposed to know."

"Obviously. So explain it."

"Look, he asked me to just empty out my pocket Friday mornings and owl over whatever I had, and some nibbles. He insisted on just change when I said I'd send over a sack of galleons if he wanted it. He insisted it _had_ to be change. It had to be a sickle at most, whatever knuts I had, and that's it. And the nibbles had to be things that could last, crackers or soups or something like that. I have a house elf pop over with that bit, so I don't know if it's something she needs to get different for you or what."

Katie sat there for a moment, taking in what Adrian said. The sickles and knuts she thought she was saving from the weekly allowances were extra bits added to her jar. Marcus had known about it all along, and had been slipping her money to help her make ends meet. She winced at the uncharitable thoughts she had about him that morning.

"He wasn't terribly specific about the food part," Adrian said apologetically. "But I'm sure if you had a list of some kind, the elf could get more specific."

There was always a list in the kitchen. Her kitchen was full of lists and schedules and the stacks of library books on the counter waiting to be returned. Marcus knew exactly how much food they used a week, and would have been able to ask for exactly enough from the elf to add to the larder so Katie wouldn't notice there was too much extra. He had done everything so she could salvage her tattered pride, to feel as though she was really doing it all by herself.

She wanted to cry at how horribly she'd treated him that morning, but would never do it in front of Adrian and not with Caroline on her lap now. The baby was confused by all this travel, but she was finally not upset anymore.

"You did kill him, didn't you?" Katie asked Adrian in a soft voice.

If anything, the lack of recrimination in her tone undid Adrian's resolve. "You don't understand, Bell," he said, shaking his head. "It wasn't like I meant to. It was an accident. A terrible accident, and I couldn't take it back."

_But you let Marcus take the blame!_ she wanted to shout at him. Katie leveled her gaze at him. "Tell me what happened."

Adrian rubbed at his jaw and came around to sit on the edge of his desk in front of her. No use hiding behind the massive thing now. "Look. I joined up late, because everyone else was. Marcus told me not to, that it wasn't worth it. I should've known he knew better about something like that, but I didn't listen. I thought it was this grand sort of thing, proving how proud I was of my heritage, all that. I didn't believe the news reports either, you understand. I thought it was all propaganda on both sides. I didn't think there were raids or murder or any of that."

"Go on," Katie urged when he fell silent.

He shook his head and sighed. "I was just an artist, you know? What did I know about killing Muggleborns or muggles? Nothing. I hung back, I took watch. I did guard duty. I was the backup. That much I told all of the Aurors is true. But when we arrived at Hogwarts that day, I split off and tried to hide." Adrian grimaced at Katie. He'd heard all of the news reports after the day, glorifying the fallen and their families. "You were pregnant and fought anyway. I was a coward and hid to save my own skin."

Katie heard the loathing in his voice and shook her head. "It wasn't anything like that, not really. Not like what was in the Prophet."

"It doesn't matter," Adrian told her. "What happened is that Marcus came looking for me. He tried to get me out of there but I was a fool and insisted that I couldn't simply leave the area. I thought they'd hunt me down if they knew I left the grounds. Hiding is one thing. I figured I could lie to them later. I didn't know that they were losing. Your husband heard the noise I was making and came to see what was going on." He paused and took a breath. "I thought he was going to kill Marcus. I didn't even think. I just did it."

"But then how did it come to be Marcus' wand that shot off the killing curse? That was the main piece of evidence in the trial."

"He switched them," Adrian said simply. "He took mine, shoved his in my hands and made me swear I would tell no one on pain of death."

Katie put Caroline on the floor and let her daughter toddle around the room as she processed what Adrian had just admitted. "You sat there throughout the trial knowing he was lying." She looked up at him in shock. "How could you do it?"

"We promised a lot of things," Adrian said with a helpless shrug. "It's not like I knew what he was talking about at the time, all right? I didn't want him in Azkaban, but he'd promised his father he'd look after me, and there we are."

"What promise?" Katie asked, confused.

Adrian sighed. "My mother was his father's younger sister. She was the odd duck in the family, since she was a Puff. So after she died when I was little, my uncle had Marcus keep an eye out for me. He said I was never a proper Slytherin. Well, apparently before he died a few years ago, my uncle had Marcus swear an Unbreakable Vow to keep me safe."

Katie covered her mouth with her hand. Oh, she'd really had Marcus pegged all wrong.

"Yeah," Adrian said, voice flat. "So he'd known all along what he was doing when he switched wands on me. I was the last one to realize what he was doing."

She looked at him miserably. "And telling anyone this would land you in Azkaban."

"And at this rate? Fooling the Ministry? I probably won't even get the option of being your indentured servant. They were just itching for something to lock us up for. I won't even get the sham trial they had for Marcus." He looked at her with an earnest expression. "I _am_ sorry I did it. So when he suggested a little pocket change and some food weekly, that was a great start. And we set up the trust fund, and—"

"Wait a minute. Trust fund?"

Adrian blinked at her. "Oh, bollocks. I stepped in it again, didn't I? You didn't know about that one, either?" Katie numbly shook her head and Adrian winced. "I thought you knew about all this, else I wouldn't have shot off my mouth. The baby's got a trust fund. She'll get the bulk of it when she graduates Hogwarts, with fifteen percent remaining to stay in investments and provide a steady income. It's pretty standard in our set."

In the monied set, he meant. Katie had never belonged to the rich Pureblood population, never knew what it was like to grow up in a manor house with trust funds and every whim catered to. The only interest she had that was catered to had been Quidditch, and only because her father had been such an avid fan before he died. "How much is it?" she asked in a small voice.

"It should be around five million galleons by the time she's done with Hogwarts," Adrian said with a shrug. "I'm a fair hand at investments and do it for all my Pucey relatives. If the Ministry didn't have Marcus' vaults frozen, I'd be working on his money, too. I do sculpture and investment banking, Bell. I'm not a filthy killer."

But she was sitting there numb, not even sure she could imagine what five million galleons would be like. "That's a lot of money," she said finally. He was expecting her to say something.

Adrian snorted. "Not hardly. Not the way I invest. And we're talking over the course of her entire formative years. Give me enough time with the paperwork and I could double or triple that before she hits her seventh year."

Katie didn't think she could comprehend it. "I need to talk to Marcus," she whispered.

Adrian gave her a look of sympathy. "Look, Bell. He knew what he was doing. He understood what was happening. He chose to take the fall for me. Don't think badly on him for that."

If she felt badly about anyone in this, it would be Adrian for being selfish and herself for being so blind. She rose to her feet and tried to figure out what she would say to Marcus. "He's a good man," she murmured softly, gathering the scattered toys on the floor.

Adrian nodded as he helped her gather up her things. "Yeah. More than the papers will ever know. Don't be so hard on him for this, okay? He had to lie to you and everyone else. He didn't want to, but he had to."

She didn't even care about that anymore. She looked at Adrian, really _looked,_ and sighed as she reached out and grasped his arm. "Whatever happened that day, I believe you," Katie said in a tired voice. "And I forgive you."

Surprised, Adrian could only nod and watch as she apparated out of his office with Caroline.

Katie popped back into her flat and winced when she saw how spotless the living room looked. She hadn't exactly left him with much choice as to what to do in her absence, did she? Caroline yawned and rubbed at her eyes in Katie's arms, so Katie put her down in her room for a nap. It was past the time for her morning nap, so Caroline went down without complaint.

Katie found Marcus sitting on his bed looking out of the window. "Marcus?" she whispered, knocking hesitantly on his door. He turned to look at her, his expression unreadable. "I'm sorry."

"What for?" he asked, his voice neutral. She wanted to cringe at the sound of it. "I somehow overstepped my bounds, I suppose. I won't do it again."

Katie closed her eyes as she leaned against the doorjamb. "It's not that." She stopped and took a deep breath. "I didn't think. Earlier, when I got mad. I just... snapped. I was so angry that things were going well and it was only because I _made you,_ and..." Katie blinked back tears that threatened to fall. "I didn't us together because I made you, that I forced you to be with me or do something you didn't want to."

He sat up straight and gave her an assessing gaze. "Why would you think that I didn't want you in my bed?"

She suppressed a shiver at the frustrated undertone in his voice. "You kept saying you had to do what I told you to do..."

"I was talking about bloody sewing!" Marcus burst out, throwing his hands up in the air. "What in blazes did you _think_ I was talking about?"

"Us," Katie said in a small voice, cringing. "That you hadn't wanted to..."

He was at her side in an instant, towering over her. If it had been anyone else, she might've been afraid. But he lifted her up and kissed her thoroughly, making her insides melt. "You daft bint," he growled against her mouth. "Don't you dare think that."

Katie wanted to cry. She held onto him and tucked her face against his neck. The cold iron of the collar around his neck pressed against her cheek. "I went to talk to Angie and Ali. They told me about their doubts from the trial." He was still, so very still, waiting for what she was going to say. "And then I went to talk to Adrian."

Marcus blew out a breath. "And?" he asked evenly, still holding her close.

"I forgive you," Katie said, every syllable deliberately pronounced.

The lock on the collar and cuffs snapped open. Marcus carefully set Katie down on her feet as the iron fell to the floor with dull thuds. "Do you understand what you just did?"

"I let an innocent man go," Katie said, looking him in the eye. "And I forgive you and Adrian both for what happened." She reached out and grasped his hand and squeezed it desperately. "I want to start over, to really start over."

"Everyone still thinks I'm guilty, and we can't ever tell the truth about what happened," he told her slowly. "If you stay with me, your reputation will be torn to shreds. _You_ will be stared at and whispered about. _Caroline_ will be shunned."

"They stare already," Katie told him stubbornly. "They already talk about us and whisper about us and think they know what it's like when they don't. I don't care. I can take it. Caro's my child, so she can take it, too."

"Think about what you're saying," Marcus pleaded. "You can't take it back, and it will carry with you. They won't respect you for forgiving us."

Katie grasped both of his hands tightly. "I don't care what those people think. Ali and Angie will know. Our family will know. We'll tell Caro when she's old enough to know." She gave him an almost pleading expression. "You'll stay, won't you?"

"Yes, but..." He laughed at her bewildered expression. "Katie, you've let me go. You really don't understand what you did, do you?"

"What are you talking about?"

"The Ministry froze my assets when they took me into custody. You just gave them back to me."

She looked at him uncomprehendingly. "So?"

He smiled at looked at her. "How would you like to move into Flint Manor?" She blinked at him, not quite understanding it. Marcus knelt down in front of her, their hands still linked. "Katie Bell, would you and Caroline move in with me? As soon as the legal paperwork clears, of course," he added with a wry twist to his lips. "I'm sure it'll take a while."

"You want me to move in with you. To a manor?" Marcus nodded. "I only have whatever the stipends I get from the Ministry..."

"Katie, love," Marcus began slowly. "I have money. I have a house." He watched comprehension dawn. "Please say you'll stay with me? As long as you want to."

Katie looked down at their clasped hands and nodded as she started to cry. She hastily took one back to wipe at her face. "I'm sorry, I'm not usually such an emotional mess."

Marcus gathered her up in his arms. "It hasn't exactly been an easy day for you, has it?" he said soothingly. He sat her down on his bed and sat next to her, an arm around her shoulders.

Katie leaned into him, her arms around his waist. "I understand," she murmured against his chest. And she did, too. Sometimes people did crazy things because it was for family and they felt compelled by circumstances. If not for Caroline, she wouldn't have done half of the things she had done to get the stipends delivered to her on time. She sacrificed any number of comforts to make sure Caroline was comfortable without a second thought. She had always been so busy, running around up until the very moment she delivered...

"Marcus?" she said after a moment, looking up almost hesitantly.

"Hm?" he murmured, rubbing her back.

"I'm thinking I might know why I've been a wreck lately." She gave him a faint smile at his questioning look. "Would it be very untoward if I asked you to marry me?"

Marcus stared at her for a long moment until it dawned on him. He laughed, falling backward on the bed. Katie fell over with him, squeaking in protest. She pounded on his chest, annoyed by his response. "Oi! It's not funny!"

He grasped her to keep her still and kissed her soundly on the mouth. "I think it is."

"You haven't exactly answered me, you know," Katie insisted, poking at his chest.

"I'm still processing this. I ask you to move in with me and you counter by asking me to marry you. There's something very much like a joke in this, but I can't quite..."

Katie pushed herself up to a sitting position and swatted his chest in annoyance. "Forget I asked, then, you bloody—"

Marcus pulled her down hard enough for the breath to be knocked out of her. He kissed her again, long and slow and setting a slow burn in her veins. "Yes, of course I will, you daft bint. I just thought _I'd_ ask _you_ after a few more months together."

"A few more months and it'll be obvious what my answer is," Katie replied tartly. After a look at his amused expression, she had to laugh as well. "I complain a lot when I'm pregnant, just so you know. And I'm moody, and I eat every sweet in sight."

Marcus kissed her again. "I'll survive it. And if you want to have a few more, I'll survive that, too. I've lived through Azkaban. I can survive anything."

Katie snuggled against him, his heartbeat steady under her ear. She smiled as he ran his fingers through her hair. "We owe Ali and Angie a story. And pints."

"They have the pints, you tell the story," Marcus said, his voice a low rumble under her ear. "And it goes no further, you understand." She nodded and he kissed the top of her head in a protective gesture. "Thank you." Katie looked up, her face a question. "For understanding why things happened the way they did. For being you."

As they kissed again, Katie knew her luck had indeed turned. There would be difficult times ahead, but she was sure they would work it out somehow. Of that, she had no doubts at all.

The End.


End file.
